YRCW, AMD, INTC, FST, KR, PPDI Popular Stocks
U.S. stocks traded Mixed Monday as the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 21 points to 9886, the Standard & Poor’s 500 increased 5 points to 1076 but the Nasdaq Composite fell 0.14 points to 2139.
YRC Worldwide Inc. (NASDAQ:YRCW, $4.26, +$0.18, 4.41%) announced its lenders agreed to extend certain provisions in its credit agreements until Oct. 30, giving the ailing transportation service provider more financial flexibility.
UBS raised its stock-investment rating on technology company Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (NYSE:AMD, $6.15, +$0.27, 4.59%) to buy from neutral. The analysts said they expect improved near-term growth as their recent checks show that PC market tailwinds are lifting both Intel Corp. (NASDAQ:INTC, $20.38, +$0.21, 1.04%) and Advanced Micro.
Stifel Nicolaus initiated coverage on oil and natural gas company Forest Oil Corp. (NYSE:FST, $21.94, +$1.23, 5.94%) with a stock-investment rating of buy. The analysts said the company’s activities in 2009 have focused on generating significant free cash flow used to pay down bank debt. “Once the balance sheet concerns have subsided, investors will start to appreciate the quality asset base, in our view,” Stifel said.
JPMorgan thinks “we’re in the 7th or 8th inning of food price deflation/disinflation,” which helped lead the firm to upgrade grocer Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR, $22.73, +$0.42, 1.88%) to overweight from neutral and raise its target to $27 from $21. The firm says there’s still risk, as the near term could be rocky, but the analysts “sense that investors are more willing to look past the near-term noise for potentially better times in 2010.”
Baird upgraded Pharmaceutical Product Development Inc. (NASDAQ:PPDI, $22.95, +$1.00, 4.56%) to outperform, saying it believes a revenue guidance reduction is coming but that it’s completely expected by the market. The firm also said it expects improved bookings, which will be a key driver of stock performance, and added operating margin is unrelated to revenue growth because of cost and wage controls and productivity enhancements.
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